All Chapters of The Bomb and the Weight of My Choice: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

...The moment I realized I'd been reborn, I abandoned my plan to rush to the scene. Instead, I returned to my dorm and switched off my encrypted communicator.In my past life, Rita Smith's error had her frantically messaging me for help. I'd just completed a grueling mission, sleepless for three days, yet I risked my life, enduring liquid nitrogen burns, to save the core server in that building.Because of my efforts, the military spared her a court-martial, opting for suspension and investigation instead. If she had avoided further mistakes, she could have returned to duty.But Rita's fragile ego couldn't handle her colleagues' scorn. She staged a fatal accident that blew herself up.Years later, Patrick Munoz's obsession with proving her right led to my death in an explosion.I pulled the blanket over my head and slept until dawn.The next morning, I turned on my communicator. The screen lit up with over a hundred missed calls and red alerts.Undazed, I took my time washing

...I donned my blast suit and rushed into the building.There were no blueprints or plans. I just followed my past life's memories to bypass Rita's faulty wiring, ignore the blinking red traps, and locate the core server with precision.Liquid nitrogen hissed, white mist filling the air. The piercing alarm stopped, indicating that the secondary detonation had been neutralized.I removed my helmet, sweat and fog blurring my vision. Exhausted, I slumped against the wall, nearly fainting.Outside, the crowd cheered in relief. My colleagues rushed to support me, their voices thick with gratitude."Mary, you're incredible!""We knew you'd pull it off!"I declined their celebratory invites, eager to go home and rest.As I reached for my car, a sharp pain hit my neck. A hand clamped over my mouth, dragging me backward. My struggles were futile as I was shoved into a dark storage room.The door slammed shut and locked.Tied to a cold chair, I couldn't move. A flickering bulb reveal

...I waited for death, but the expected pain and fire didn't come.Instead, a deafening boom plunged the base into darkness. The ground quaked, and a shockwave threw me down, my ruined wrist slamming against the wall. The pain blinded me.Seconds later, emergency lights flickered on. Thick smoke poured from the server room.Rita lay motionless, charred. Faint arcs of electricity danced across her body. She was unconscious, and the core server—decades of national effort—was a smoldering heap of scrap.Clifford's face darkened under the dim lights. He stared at the wreckage, each word gritted out. "The data... decades of work... gone."Silence gripped the room. Everyone, including the guards who had mocked me, looked ashen. This was a crime grave enough for execution.Propped against the wall, I summoned my last strength and rasped, "General! My helmet is in my car. There is a black box recording everything."His gaze snapped at me, sharp as lightning. Then he commanded without

Patrick had gone mad, hell-bent on destroying everything to get even. I gripped the photo, my nails digging into my palm."Ma'am?" a teammate asked warily, seeing my pale face. "What now?"The timer showed less than 30 minutes. I commanded, "Evacuate everyone within three miles. Link to military satellites and lock onto every city camera. He wants to send a gift? I'll show him how I unwrap it."...I stood before the bomb, its red timer ticking: 29:59, 29:58...The square was deserted.The bomb's speaker hissed, and Patrick's mocking voice came through. "Mary, long time no see. Isn't Rita's work perfect? This is her true talent."My heart tightened as he continued, "You crushed her genius. Now you'll pay with your life and the city center."He was trying to break me.Clifford's voice crackled through comms, barely containing rage. "Snipers are in position. He's at the top-floor window across the square. Your call.""Not yet," I said. "He's got a backup plan."This wasn't sui